Rubber sole and heel



July 26, 193s v W. L. PlPEs 2 124 9.

RUBBER SOLE AND HEEL 86 Filed Juri@ 15, 195e patenti n, 26.1938 1 2,124,986

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RUBBER SOLE AND HEEL Walter L. Pipes, Elizabeth, N. J., assigner to United States Rubber Products, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 13, 1936, Serial No. 85,072 6 claims. (cl. 36-59i` My invention relates to rubber soles and heels, surfaces of the sole and heel. The transversely and more particularly to the improvements of arranged incisions are particularly adapted to the anti-slipping or anti-skidding characteristics prevent back slipping of the shoe. Incisions thereof by the provision of small slits in the are preferably made after the footwear is vul- 5 ground engaging surfaces thereof. canized by a cutting operation, such as by a 5 It is well known that footwear having rubber sharp knife or very thin saw which removes sub heels and/or soles may become very slippery stantially no material. The term incision as when used on wet pavements, walks, or lboardused herein means a cut formed in the surface Walks, particularly if the weight of the wearer is of the vulcanized rubber composition without the l0 placed on a wet metal part. removal of substantially any material, with the 10 I have found that the anti-slipping or antiresult that the opposite walls 'of the incision skidding characteristics of rubber soles and heels normally engage one another'. Incisions which may be materially improved by providing a numare wider than 116 inch remove so much of the ber of slits in .the exposed rubber surface. Such Wearing surface of lthe rubber that the loss of slits may vary from a thin slit such as is formed the wearing surface is not compensated for by 15 by a knife cut without substantial removal of the `increased traction eect. The spacing of material to a narrow slot such as is formed by the incisions depends somewhat upon the thicka thin saw and in which some material is removed ness of the rubber to which it is applied, although but which is still sufficiently narrow so that the 'a spacing range of from 1/8 inch to 1 inch is side Walls engage to mutually support each other contemplated. In general, the thinner the stock, 20 when load is applied. The presence of the. thin the shallower and closer the incisions. A conedges of the slits provides additional traction venient depth for the initial incisions is onesurface, as compared with a smooth rubber surthird of the thickness of the stock, although the face, and also the slits provide small passageways l use of incisions on stock which is less than .2

through which the liquid or liquid film may be inch is not recommended. For heavy service 25 squeezed to permit the rubber surface to have boots, such as hunting boats, miners boots, and a relatively dry contact with the underlying road the like, having thick soles and heels, incisions of or walk surface. The slits may be super-imthe order of 1A; inch in depth are quite satisfacposecl on various designs of sole and heel contory. It is. to be understood that after the ingurations or they may be applied directly to cisions originally formed are eliminated due t0 30 otherwise smooth rubber surfaces. the wearing of therubber, new incisions may be The accompanying drawing illustrates certain made in the remaining rubber. These should present preferred embodiments of the invention, preferably be of a depth of approximately onein which: half of the remaining rubber. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a combined heel AS shown in Fig. 2, inthe event it is desired to 3F and sole embodying my invention; have a smooth appearing outer edge of the soles Fig. 2 is a. plan view of a modified form of the and/or heels, uncut margins 6 and l of the order heel and sole; of 1/2 inch in width may be provided around the Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are similar views of furedges of the sole and heel portions, respectively. ther'modications of the invention; Referring to Fig. 3, a combined sole and neel 4L Fig. 7 is a similar view of a sole embodying 8 is shown provided with longitudinal incisions 9 my invention; which are particularly useful in preventing side Fig. 8 is a face view of a heel embodying my slipping. In Fig. 4, incisions l0 are shown set at invention; and v an angle at approximately degrees to the lon- 45 Fig.`9 is an isometric view of a heel embodying gitudinal center of the sole and heel Il. Such 45 a modied form of my invention shown in Fig. 8. incisions combine certain of the advantages of Referring particularly to Fig. 1, a wear rethe transverse incisions in preventing back slipsisting surface for a footwear article is illusping and certain of the advantages of the longitrated inthe form of a combined heel and sole i tudinal incisions in preventing side slipping of in which the ball portion 2 of the sole and the the shoe. 50

tread surface 3 of the heel are interrupted by a, In Fig. 5 a double diagonal arrangement of inconsiderable number of small slits or incisions 5 cisions i2 and i3 is illustrated. The intersec- :tor improving the traction qualities of the shoe tions of the` incisions l2 and i3 break the wearto which it is attached. These incisions extend ing surface up into a plurality of square blockstransversely entirely across the ground engaging which are flexible relative to each other so that 55 they move slightly while maintaining their grip on the ground surface thereby reducing scuing to a greater degree than do the arrangements shown in the previously described gures.

A transverse serrated path is formed by the blocks intersecting sides lying next to and intersecting a transverse line extending generally in the transverse direction and passing through diagonally opposite corners of several adjacent blocks. The several serrated paths so formed are of course longer than the paths formed by straight slits shown in Figs. 1 to 3 and when the sharp corners of the slits in the serrated paths tilt up under the pressure of the foot wearing the shoe, a greater length of the gripping edge is exposed to the supporting surface.

Referring to Fig. 6, there is shown a combined sole and heel M in which longitudinally extending grooves l5 are originally molded. If desired the grooves i5 may extend through the margin of the surface of the tread of the sole and heel portion. Transverse incisions `l intersect the grooves i5 so that relatively short pads are provided for squeezing out the liquid lm from between the rubber surface and the pavement. Such a design of the combined sole and heel is particularly useful for very heavy service boots such as hunting and miners boots.

Fig. 7 illustrates a sole l1 having transverse incisions i8. Fig. 8 illustrates a heel i9 having transverse incisions 20, made within the outer margin 2i, and Fig. 9 illustrates a heel provided with longitudinal grooves or slots 22 and transverse incisions 23 which extend entirely across the face of the heel and through the outside margin. In Fig. 9 a circular groove 24 is formed in the face of the heel within which an insignia may be placed. The heels illustrated in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 may be secured to the shoe by nails extending through holes, such as the holes 25 shown i'n Fig. 9.

By applying the incisions to heels the jar experienced with walking is materially reduced as the sub-sections of the wearing surface are free to adjust themselves to the inequalities of the worn heel or ground surface and/or load so that a more uniform overall pressure is obtained than is usually obtained where a less exible body of rubber is employed for the heel.

While I have illustrated and described several designs or patterns of incisions, it will be understood that other patterns may be used within the spirit of the invention and with equally good results. The several modifications of the invention are all characterized by the application of incisions, either so narrow as to be substantially invisible, or so that the opposite walls normally engage, which result in squeezing of a liquid film from between the rubber surface and the ground thereby insuring a better contact between the rubber surface and the ground surface. Such constructions are particularly useful where the fotowear is used in Wet and slimy places. 'Ihe application of the invention to heels also reduces the jarring. By reason of the subdivision of the wearing surface into small units, these units are free to flex slightly and accommodate themselves to unevennesses in the ground surface or inequalities of the imposed load without slipping or scuiiing thereby giving the footwear better wearing characteristics.

The flexing action is advantageous in wet places, because when the tread surface is applied to a wet supporting surface, a film of liquid is between the two surfaces and reduces the friction therebetween. The tendency of the tread surface to move over vthe supporting surface, under the pressure of the foot, causes the sections of the tread surface between the incisions to tilt up as they iiex and expose the relative sharp corners of the sections along the edges of the incisions to the supporting surface. This action brings the corners or sharp edges of the incisions in direct contact with the supporting surface to `provide gripping surfaces and forms recesses between the tilted up tread sections and the supporting surface for the film of liquid to be squeezed into. The various patterns of incisions may be made in a sole and/or heel having a smooth or uneven surface, examples of the latter are the grooves i5 in Fig. 6, or they may be made in surfaces having various designs.

While I have shown and described present preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention may otherwise be vembodied within the spirit thereof and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. In a shoe, a vulcanized flexible rubber composition tread having a tread surface provided with a multiplicity of incisions so as to provide individual tread sections having tread surfaces, the walls of said incisions being normally in contact and the tread surfaces of said sections presenting a substantially continuous surface when the tread is at rest, said incisions extending inwardly from said tread surface but leaving an uncut base integral with the sections, and said incisions being of such a spacing and depth as to enable the tread sections to flex on the uncut base to an extent to tilt up and expose the corners of the sections when the foot wearing the shoe and applying weight on the tread surface tends to slip upon some desired supporting surface with which the tread surface is in Contact.

2. In a shoe, a vulcanized flexible rubber composition tread having a tread surface provided with a multiplicity of incisions made without the substantial removal of any of the rubber composition so as to provide individual tread sections having tread surfaces, the walls of said incisions being normally in contact and the tread surfaces of said sections presenting a substantially continuous surface when the tread is at rest, said incisions extending inwardly from said tread surface but leaving an uncut base integral with the sectionsJ and said incisions being of such a spacing and depth as to enable the tread sections to flex on the uncut base to an extent to tilt up and expose the corners of the sections when the foot wearing the shoe and applying weight on the tread surface tends to slip upon some desired supporting surface with which the tread surface is in contact.

3. In a shoe, an outsole of elastic cushion rubber having a tread surface provided with a multiplicity of slits extending generally transversely of the shoe and providing tread sections, the surfaces of said tread sections formed by said slits being normally in contact when the outsole is at rest, said slits extending inwardly but partially to leave an uncut base integral with the sections, and said slits being of such a spacing and depth as to enable the tread sections to flex on the uncut base of the outsole to an extent to tilt up and expose the corners of the sections when the foot wearing the shoe and applying weight on the tread surface tends to slip upon aisance some desired supporting surface with which the tread surface is in contact.

4. In a shoe, an outsole of elastic cushion rubber having a tread surface provided with a multiplicity of generally uniformly spaced slits extending generally transversely of the shoe and providing tread sections of generally similar width, the surfaces of said tread sections formed by said slits being normally in contact when the outsole is at rest to present a smooth outer tread surface at the juncture of said sections free from any recesses, said slits extending inwardly but partially to leave an uncut base integral with the sections, and said slits being of such a spacing and depth as to enable the tread sections to flex on the uncut base of the outsole to an extent to tiltA up and expose the sharp corners of the sections when the foot wearing the shoe and applying weight on the tread surface tends to slip upon some desired supporting surface with which the tread surface is in contact.

5. In ashoe, an outsole of elastic cushion rubber having a tread surface provided with a multipliclty of slits extending generally transversely of the shoe and providing tread sections, the

surfaces oi said tread sections formed by said slits being normally in contact when the outsole is at rest, said slits forming serrated paths transversely across the shoe and extending inwardly but partially to leave an uncut baseintegral with the wavy sections, and said slits/being of such a spacing and depth as to enable the tread sections to flex on the uncut base of the outsole to an extent to tilt up and expose the corners of the sections when the foot wearing the shoe and applying weight on the tread surface tends to slip upon some desired supporting surface with which the tread surface is in contact.

6. In a shoe, an outsole of elastic cushion rubber having a tread surface provided with a multiplicity of slits extending generally transversely of the shoe and providing tread sections. the surfaces of said tread sections formed by said slits being normally in contact when the outsole is at rest, said slits extending inwardly but partially to leave an uncut base integral with the sections, and said slits being of such a spacing and depth as to enable the tread sections to flex on the uncut base of the outsole to an extent to tilt up and expose the corners of the sections when the foot wearing the shoe and applying weight on the tread surface tends to slip upon some desired supporting surface with which the tread surface is in contact, the peripheral edge presenting an uncut area.

WALTM L. PWES. 

